Klewang Sumatra / arabian inscriptions

artisana · 8th February 2011, 01:03 PM

Hi, I am new member from Belgium, living in France .. married with Indonesian woman. I am a collector of ethnical artifacts, weapons... Fairly new and willing to learn from co members. I have acces to good and very good items from all parts of Indonesia.
This is a nice klewang sword from Sumatra. Nice with arabian text on the blade.
Who can give me more info on age, detail of inscriptions ect..
Thanks in advance
Alain

kai · 9th February 2011, 09:51 AM

Bonjour Alain, welcome to our community!

Do a search for pedang on this forum - that will yield several reference threads. Based on the scabbard, I believe your piece is more likely to originate from Lombok.

A few more pics would be good to estimate age. Sharp close-ups of the inscription will make translation possible - long texts like this are usually citations from the koran. Sometimes these were added later to the blades to make them more attractive - the quality of the worrkmanship makes me wonder wether this may be the case here.

Regards,
Kai

Gavin Nugent · 9th February 2011, 10:37 AM

Welcome,

I agree with the Lombok attribution, the hilt shows a distinct cockatoo with its crest raised.

I hope you enjoy the forum as much as everyone else here.

Gavin

artisana · 9th February 2011, 10:51 AM

Thanks for the info.. i will take more pictures when im back home.. and with a better camera

Dom · 9th February 2011, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artisana

Nice with arabian text on the blade.

Hi Alain
unfortunately for you, it's seems not be a Koranic mention or verse,
as "kai" was expecting ... hard luck ... otherwise the matter could be easy (for us)

the language used is a kind of "Pidgin" (a very basic language
which is used to communicate between cultures)
definitively, it's not in traditional Arabic language

bienvenu sur ce forum, je suis un des rares Français le fréquentant,
malheureusement ton domaine est absolument inconnu pour moi

ce sera une occasion pour moi, de compléter mon éducation.

à +

Dom

artisana · 10th February 2011, 04:13 PM

Ok, thanks for the update... old language apparently
What does this say about the age of the sword ?
I will more detailed pictures of the text soon ...
What is the use of putting such text on a weapon ?
Alain

8th February 2011, 01:03 PM	#1
artisana Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 18	Klewang Sumatra / arabian inscriptions Hi, I am new member from Belgium, living in France .. married with Indonesian woman. I am a collector of ethnical artifacts, weapons... Fairly new and willing to learn from co members. I have acces to good and very good items from all parts of Indonesia. This is a nice klewang sword from Sumatra. Nice with arabian text on the blade. Who can give me more info on age, detail of inscriptions ect.. Thanks in advance Alain Attached Images

9th February 2011, 10:37 AM	#3
Gavin Nugent Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,818	Lombok Welcome, I agree with the Lombok attribution, the hilt shows a distinct cockatoo with its crest raised. I hope you enjoy the forum as much as everyone else here. Gavin

9th February 2011, 10:51 AM	#4
artisana Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 18	reply Thanks for the info.. i will take more pictures when im back home.. and with a better camera

10th February 2011, 04:13 PM	#6
artisana Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 18	Reply Ok, thanks for the update... old language apparently What does this say about the age of the sword ? I will more detailed pictures of the text soon ... What is the use of putting such text on a weapon ? Alain

9th February 2011, 09:51 AM	#2
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,254	Bonjour Alain, welcome to our community! Do a search for pedang on this forum - that will yield several reference threads. Based on the scabbard, I believe your piece is more likely to originate from Lombok. A few more pics would be good to estimate age. Sharp close-ups of the inscription will make translation possible - long texts like this are usually citations from the koran. Sometimes these were added later to the blades to make them more attractive - the quality of the worrkmanship makes me wonder wether this may be the case here. Regards, Kai